Escape and Evasion, Ch 3&4
by Wega the blue sun
Summary: The action starts here and it's getting serious!


Escape and Evasion, Ch. 3 

A Konjiki No Gash Bell (Zatch Bell) fanfic

These characters don't belong to me, no copyright infringement is intended. This fic does however belong to me!

Author's Note: Thanks to all reviewers for your kind words! Cruelfeline, that means you especially! As for this fic ...sorry about the mess with the chapters. I would like to fix it and publish this story in one piece, but tropical storm Arlene is on the way and time grows short. Weather permitting I will continue to update, but don't be surprised if it takes a while. Never fear, this will be finished. One last thing - some of my stories have different ratings and will not be listed unless you choose the "show all ratings" category. Or visit my author's page, all stories are listed there. By the way, how do you guys read this stuff so quickly? I can't even see the update until the next day, but reviews start coming in minutes after I post!

Escape and Evasion, Chs. 3 and 4

Her rest was shortlived, something startled her. What was going on? For a moment she'd heard voices, was it only a dream? It was perfectly still, even the birds were quiet. Then suddenly there were sounds - voices and footsteps. Judging from the voices several men were close by.

How the hell did they find us? B. would never have allowed anyone to get near, so he was still gone, she realized as she instinctively crouched down to conceal herself. She could tell from the conversation that the men were searching for her. It's time to move, she thought, better get on the other side of the river.

The men were getting closer, any moment now they would see her undershirt hanging in the tree. She cursed herself for being so careless. With no time to get dressed she pushed her clothes far under the shady trees, hoping the men wouldn't find the garment. Then she began to make her way down to the water as quietly as possible. Halfway down she remembered her boots. They were still by the rock and it was now too late to return for them. Clutching the black book she squatted down low in a patch of tall white flowers. The men had found her lacy undershirt and were now searching in earnest, stumbling through the brush, shouting and laughing and taunting her to come on out. This situation was getting worse by the minute, Sherry thought. Here she was sitting in her damp underwear with several drunkson her trail and her partner nowhere in sight. This would certainly be a nice time for Brago to make an appearance, she fumed. What was keeping him?

"Stay by the bike Ken", one of the men yelled. "I don't want her to circle back and take off while we're down here!" So there were at least 3 guys, she considered, one standing guard and two down here with her. She looked around for a weapon - a stick, a stone, anything. Even though she considered herself a good fighter, two grown men were a bit much to take on emptyhanded. But she couldn't risk leaving the book behind, so it was time to create a diversion now and for that she needed something ...

She found a flat rock of just the right size. After a careful look around she threw the rock as far away as her strength allowed. The stone sailed through the air in an elegant arc and landed noisily in the plants, a good distance away. Shouting and yelling the men ran into the direction of the sounds. Her ruse successful, Sherry closed the distance to the river and slipped under the icy water. Holding the book overhead she swam with the current, pushing herself along the pebbly river bottom to reach the other side quicker. Although her escape had not been noticed she wasn't safe yet. She scrambled up the riverbank trying to make as little noise and leave as few tracks as possible.

"Hey Dan! I'm heading across to search over there" one of the men shouted. "I'm coming too!" his friend replied. "No, you stay here" the other man ordered. So that one seemed to be the leader of the group, Sherry thought. That meant he needed to be taken out first, and she readied herself for the encounter.

Ch.4

"Yo Ken", the leader yelled, "is she up there yet?" He received no reply. "HEY KEN!" he bellowed louder. "What the f ...Did Ken take off?" the other man asked stupidly. No, Sherry thought, we would have heard the engine. If the man wasn't responding there was probably a good reason for that. A high pitched scream tore through the thick air. "I'm going up there" the leader announced. "You keep looking for her down here. I bet that bitch isn't alone." Finally, Sherry thought. It sounded like Ken had just made the aquaintance of the dark mamodo.

From her hiding place on the opposite side of the river she could see the boss making his way up the hill. Now only one man was in her close proximity, and he was already crossing the river. Once again she searched for a weapon. There was a large broken branch nearby. She grabbed the solid piece of wood as the footsteps grew louder.

"Hey there", the man said and shot her a crooked smile. He'd just stepped in front of her when another scream pierced the air. Distracted by the sound he never saw her lunging towards him. Her balled up fist punched his groin hard. In too much pain to scream the man went down without a sound. Moving quicker than ever before in her life she brought down the branch on his head several times. He moaned and blood started to flow. Sherry jumped back, grabbed the book she'd left behind and turned to leave. This guy was in no condition to come after her for a while, which gave her a chance to get her clothes and boots ...

"Are you done here?" a familiar voice asked. Brago was running towards her, dripping wet from his river crossing. He held her undershirt in one clawed hand. Sherry took a deep breath. The birds began their chorus again and the sun was hot on her bare skin.  
Brago handed her the shirt and she quickly slipped it on. "The others?" she asked, knowing full well that the other two men had been dealt with. Brago didn't bother to reply, he only stared at her. She looked down at herself. Her arms and legs were smeared with mud and bits of grass and white flower petals were stuck to her skin.  
"So much for getting clean" she sighed.

Brago had walked over to where the injured man was. "What are we going to do about him?" Sherry asked. Brago turned to look at her. "Nothing, considering he's dead", the demon stated in a bored voice.


End file.
